Is Rubio really Catholic?

Monday

Nov 29, 2010 at 12:01 AM

By MARK OPPENHEIMER The New York Times

Marco Rubio, the charismatic senator-elect from Florida, is in many ways similar to other Cuban-American politicians from his home state: conservative, Republican and a "practicing and devout Roman Catholic," in the words of his spokesman, one who "regularly attends Catholic Mass" and "was baptized, confirmed and married in the Roman Catholic Church,"

But while Rubio, 39, presented himself on his Florida Statehouse website and in interviews as a Roman Catholic, bloggers and journalists have noted since his election that he regularly worships at an evangelical megachurch whose theology is plainly at odds with Catholic teaching.

For much of the last decade, Rubio has attended Christ Fellowship with his wife and children. He "comes very regularly to worship service" at the church's Palmetto Bay campus, said Eric Geiger, the executive pastor. According to Rubio's campaign website, he contributed almost $50,000 to Christ Fellowship from 2005 to 2008.

Rubio has called Christ Fellowship "nondenominational," using a term popular in evangelical Protestant circles, for its welcoming, all-embracing quality.

He retains ties to the Catholic Church, too. "On the final Sunday of the campaign, for example, he attended Mass at Christ the King Catholic Church in Tampa," according to an e-mail from Alex Burgos, his spokesman. "On the morning of the election, he attended Mass in Coral Gables."

And therein lies a quandary. Christ Fellowship, which has five campuses and draws about 6,000 worshippers on a typical weekend, is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, and its beliefs include several that are alien to Catholicism.

Southern Baptists practice adult rather than infant baptism, for example. They do not recognize the authority of the pope. And the Christ Fellowship statement of beliefs says the bread and wine of communion are merely "symbolic," thus do not become Christ's body and blood, as Catholics believe.

As for Rubio's involvement with Catholicism, his spokesman did not respond to questions about whether the senator-elect gives money to the Archdiocese of Miami; whether he agrees with Catholic teachings that suggest Protestants are in error; and whether he belongs to a Catholic parish, as most observant Catholics would.

To many Protestants and Catholics, these may seem like small points of theology. But Rubio's simultaneous embrace of Catholic identity and evangelical Protestant worship raises questions like this one, posted Nov. 4 by the Catholic blogger Eric Giunta: "Is Marco Rubio talking out of both sides, the better to court both the Catholic and the Evangelical votes?"

The question assumes that there are distinct Catholic and evangelical votes, but that may no longer be the case among Hispanics. Although most Hispanics are Catholic by ancestry, the community has become religiously diverse, with many immigrants and their descendants moving toward evangelical Protestant worship.

"Throughout his career, Marco has voted for policies and advanced positions consistent with" conservative, evangelical Protestantism, said Dario Moreno, a professor of political science at Florida International University, noting, for example, his opposition to the expansion of gambling, "including slot machines at pari-mutuels."

"But many Catholics reach out to Southern Baptists and have allied on issues like abortion and support for public funding for Christian schools," Moreno said.

Fernand Amandi, whose Florida firm, Bendixen & Amandi, specializes in Hispanic opinion polling, says that among the population, few seem to care that Rubio is partaking of two religious identities.

"I don't think there is any such consciousness of it at all," Amandi said. "If he came out as an atheist, there would probably be a huge backlash," but within Christianity "the Hispanic community is respectful enough of diversity that I don't think this matters."

A 2008 study by Trinity College, in Hartford, Conn., found that from 1990 to 2008, the proportion of American Hispanics identifying as Catholic fell substantially, to 60 percent from 66 percent. The study also found that the longer a Hispanic has lived in the United States, the less likely he or she is to be Catholic. And the non-Catholics are more likely to identify as Republicans.

This dual identity is becoming more common, says Juan Martinez, associate dean for the Hispanic Center at Fuller Theological Seminary, in Pasadena, Calif. "Rubio would be a prime example," Martinez said, "but you'll find other people who would say, 'I am Catholic,' which often means, 'I still identify culturally as part of the community, although my religious practice is in this other congregation.'"

But Virgilio P. Elizondo, a priest who teaches at the University of Notre Dame, argues that Rubio is still a new breed.

"I don't think this is very common," Elizondo said. "I know that some Catholics switch for a while and then return, and some switch and never return, but I really don't know of any who claim to be Catholic but attend another church."

It may never be clear whether Rubio is more Catholic or Protestant. The question itself reduces a complex experience to simple terms. What may be clear from this story -- call it The Case of the First Catholic Protestant Senator -- is that in America, religious distinctions matter less all the time.

Catharine Skipp contributed reporting from Miami.

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